Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The state also promised more to come in Alabama: Attorney General Steve Marshall said 43 other people on death row had chosen asphyxiation over lethal injections since lawmakers approved the method in 2018. Nikki Haley suggests she'll stay in Republican race after South Carolina Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Sunday accused party leaders of not being honest brokers in her campaign against Donald Trump and said she did not have to win the nominating contest in South Carolina to stay in the race.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Trump says he feels mentally sharp after Haley attacks his age, gaffes

Donald Trump on Saturday said he feels "sharper now than I did 20 years ago," reacting to recent attacks on his age and verbal gaffes by Republican presidential rival Nikki Haley. Trump also said presidential candidates should have to take a cognitive test, apparently a response to a challenge from Haley, who has advocated the same policy, citing the age of Trump, 77, and Democratic President Joe Biden, 81.

Donald Trump ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million, will appeal verdict

Donald Trump was handed a stinging defeat on Friday by a Manhattan jury that ordered him to pay $83.3 million to the writer E. Jean Carroll, who said he destroyed her reputation as a trustworthy journalist by denying he raped her. Jurors needed less than three hours to reach a verdict in Manhattan federal court following a five-day trial. The sum that the former U.S. president was ordered to pay far exceeded the minimum $10 million Carroll had sought. Trump plans to appeal.

Shunned in computer age, cursive makes a comeback in California

A generation of children who learned to write on screens is now going old school. Starting this year, California grade school students are required to learn cursive handwriting, after the skill had fallen out of fashion in the computer age.

Trump White House pharmacy improperly provided drugs and misused funds, Pentagon report says

The White House Medical Unit during the Trump administration provided prescription drugs, including controlled substances, to ineligible staff and spent tens of thousands of dollars more on brand-name drugs than what generic equivalents would have cost, a Pentagon report shows. The unit, part of the White House Military Office, did not comply with federal government and Department of Defense guidelines, the report, which was released on Jan. 8, found.

Alabama will help bring nitrogen asphyxiation executions to other states

Alabama offered assistance on Friday to other U.S. states seeking to carry out executions using asphyxiation by nitrogen gas, a few hours after pioneering the new method to kill Kenneth Smith, a prisoner condemned for a 1988 murder. The state also promised more to come in Alabama: Attorney General Steve Marshall said 43 other people on death row had chosen asphyxiation over lethal injections since lawmakers approved the method in 2018.

Nikki Haley suggests she'll stay in Republican race after South Carolina

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Sunday accused party leaders of not being honest brokers in her campaign against Donald Trump and said she did not have to win the nominating contest in South Carolina to stay in the race. Haley, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told NBC's Meet the Press that the former president would become even more "unhinged" as the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination progressed.

Biden speaks on religious faith at South Carolina church

President Joe Biden spoke about his religious faith at services on Sunday at an African-American church in South Carolina, as he works to bolster Black support likely to prove crucial to his re-election chances in November. Biden, a devout Catholic, was wrapping up a two-day visit to the state, where Democrats will hold their first-in-the-nation primary on Feb. 3.

US Muslim group condemns Pelosi for saying Gaza ceasefire protests have Russia link

A U.S. Muslim group criticized former House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday after she suggested, without offering evidence, that some protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza could be linked to Russia and urged the FBI to investigate. Her comments were dismissed as "unsubstantiated smears" by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who said such remarks amounted to dehumanization of the Palestinian people.

Biden returns to South Carolina to bolster support with Black voters

President Joe Biden on Saturday drew a stark contrast with top Republican rival Donald Trump, making the case that Trump failed to support the rights of Black citizens and represents a threat to the U.S economy and democracy. Biden's comments came during a dinner on Saturday to celebrate elevating South Carolina and its large base of Black voters to first place in the Democratic Party's calendar of contests to nominate a candidate for the November election.

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley targeted in swatting incident

Authorities responded to a fake emergency at the South Carolina home of Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley last month after a man claimed to have shot a woman and threatened to harm himself at her home, according to town records obtained by Reuters. The previously unreported “swatting” incident is among a wave of violent threats, bomb scares and other acts of intimidation against government officials, members of the judiciary and election administrators since the 2020 election that have alarmed law enforcement ahead of this year’s U.S. presidential contest.